The first sentence of your artist statement is the reason no — It is almost never the work. It is that the opening li...

The first sentence of your artist statement is the reason nobody reads the second one. It is not the work. It is your opening line that sounds exactly like every other statement in the inbox. So the gallery switches off before they reach anything that actually matters. I wrote the same dead opener for years. My work explores the relationship between memory and material. Here's the fix. Three openers to never use a game. Never open with. I am an emerging artist. The gallery can see that. It tells them that nothing. Never open with my work explores. Explore is the word we reach for when we have not decided what the work actually is yet. Never open with the medium. Oil on canvas is not a reason to keep reading. Instead, your first sentence is the one you would say out loud if somebody asked what you make plain specific. A real sentence about real work. I paint the house as people grow up in and then left. That is a first line. It tells them what it is and makes them want the next sentence. Go and read your own opening right now. If it starts with I am an emerging artist or my work explores or medium, delete it. Write the sentence you would say to a stranger at your private view instead. Send this to the artist who statement opens with my work explores. And follow for more on how the art world actually works.